“The fight is on!” states ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner after a long meeting with members of the Klitschko management group and K2 promotions regarding the ring size for tomorrow’s WBC heavyweight championship between Vitali Klitschko and Juan Carlos Gomez. Less than 24 hours before the big fight a measurement of the ring showed that it was almost 4 feet shorter than allowed by the WBC rules. “I have been at the venue personally”, says Öner.
“The Klitschko management group and K2 promotions are still young companies and mistakes do happen. As we are confident that Juan will beat Vitali we definitely want this fight to happen; after years of boredom we want the world to see a great heavyweight championship again. So we helped them to work out a solution for the ring. Everything is set now and ready to go.”
Small ring, big fuss – Klitschko vs. Gomez at risk – ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner: “The ignorance of the Klitschkos is ridiculous!”
Less than 24 hours before the WBC heavyweight championship between titlist Vitali Klitschko and no. 1 contender Juan Carlos Gomez the show may be called off because the ring is too small. At a measurement Friday night the ring was almost 4 feet shorter than the minimum allowed by the WBC rules for championship bouts.
ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner: “This is ridiculous! I really don’t understand how a promoter can be so arrogant and ignorant not to follow the rules and build a ring that is almost 4 feet too small. We are not talking about a few inches here! In fight week we have been confronted with all kinds of provocation and unprofessional behaviour by the Klitschko management – for instance they still refuse credentials for my closest office staff and parts of Gomez’ team – but that caps it all! Team Klitschko is either very stupid or very nervous. I have no other explanations for their mistakes. They have been talking a lot about using the smallest possible ring but obviously never even checked the rules. It is nothing but embarrassing – after all we are not talking about a small fight just for fun. This is a world title fight. The world is watching and the Klitschkos have nothing to do but to humiliate themselves.”
After the ARENA team informed the Klitschko management and K2 promotions about the problem the ropes were rearranged. Still the problem is not solved. Öner: “Now the space between the ropes and the canvas is only 12 inches instead of 36 inches (as stipulated in the WBC rules)! This is extremely risky and dangerous. If a fighter stands against the ropes he might easily slip and fall. In the worst case one of the guys could break his legs. And we do not want this to happen to either Vitali or Juan. So we will not allow our fighter to step into this ring!”
How can things be solved? Öner: “Well, team Klitschko still got enough time to sort things out and set up a new ring. I hope they are working on this already. We will measure again tomorrow morning and hope that the fight can still go on. Juan is ready to go – and he doesn’t care about the ring size. He said he would even outbox Vitali in a phone booth. But the rules are the rules. We will not disrespect the WBC and we will not allow the Klitschko management to do so.”
Klitschko-Gomez: Team Klitschko refuses WBC judge and referee
Team Gomez Press Release – Five days before the great showdown between WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko and no. 1 contender Juan Carlos Gomez it was team Gomez who clearly won the “first round” at today’s press conference in Stuttgart. While Vitali kept repeating that he will give Gomez a lesson “which won’t last very long” his manager Bernd Bönte had to admit that team Klitschko actually refused the referee and one judge the WBC had planned to appoint for the fight. Apparently, the champion and his team are getting nervous with fight day approaching.
“It’s funny”, stated challenger Gomez. “If Vitali thinks that he will knock me out why does he even care about the judges at all? I don’t care who will be judging the fight. I will beat up ‘Dr. Sissi’ so bad that there will be no doubt that the ‘Black Panther’ will be world champion again this coming Saturday. It’s Showtime!”
“They can appoint whoever they want”, adds Gomez’ coach Orlando Cuellar. “This fight won’t go the distance. We will stop Vitali and take the belt. Everyone that wants to see Klitschko getting beat up like a schoolboy should watch the fight on Saturday. And everyone who hasn’t put down money yet – you better place your bet. It has never been easier to make good money. I am looking forward to hearing the ring announcer say after the fight: Your winner and NEW heavyweight champion of the world: Juan Carlos Gomez!”
K2 proudly announced that Vitali’s sparring partners, former world champion Chris Byrd and former world title contender Tony Thompson, will be featured on what has been called a “great undercard”. However, the Klitschko management ‘forgot’ to mention that Byrd will fight nameless German tomato can Mathias Sandow (4-3) while Thompson steps into the ring against Turkish journeyman Adnan Serin (19-9). “I truly believe that this is one of the best undercards K2 has ever had”, says Gomez’ promoter Ahmet Öner. “Still it’s complete bullsh**t and I wouldn’t even dare to present fights like this on any of my shows.”